Artist Inspiration Interview: Creative Experiments

With April coming to a
close, I didn't want this
month to pass without
sharing some inspiration
from a creative friend,
Melanie Testa.

I recently had the honor
and privilege of meeting Melly, (as she likes to be
called), at the Spring
Festival of Quilts in Chicago.

Melly's new book, Inspired to Quilt,
is a favorite, and I was interested
to find out a little more about the
author, herself.

She was gracious enough to participate
in an inspiration interview for The Red
Door Studio.

So without further adieu...

1.What is your story, how did you become an artist?

I became an artist through focused effort and practice.

I have wanted to become an artist since I was a little girl,
A friend of my fathers bought an oil paint set for me and
I painted a picture of Annie, big poofy yellow hair, red
dress and all. Art was always my favorite class. My first
mixed media project that got into a 'major exhibition'
was a completely fabricated TV dinner. I made food out
of paper mache and placed it artfully into a metal tray
with the proper segments-remember those? One large
section for meat and three smaller sections for vegetables,
mashed potatoes and a brownie in a pressed aluminum tin.
I even created the box with realists graphics. It got into a
local show in a gallery in New Haven Connecticut. My mother
set up a date and a few friends went to see the show together.
It was awesome.


2. What is your medium and why did you choose it?

Do I have to choose one? Mostly I work in cloth, I surface design,
print and quilt whole cloth quilts using Procion MX dyes. But I
also love to journal, visually, using gouache in watercolor journals.
I really can't imagine working in any other medium. I know oil
painters and admire their work, approach and style, I even
understand the basics of the medium, but cloth is what works
best for me. I sorta feel like this is a difficult question. I didn't
really choose cloth, it chose me. I went with it and didn't look back.

3. What inspires you?

I love the human form, it is challenging to depict and beautiful.
I am also taken by nature, birds and flowers. I have a degree in
textile design and learned to draw flowers first and foremost. I
have also had a longstanding love affair with birds and am right
now working on a series that I am quite excited about. There is
a list of 20 Common Birds in Decline. The trends for these birds
can be reversed if we, as humans and stewards of the earth take
action. I have begun creating one piece of art for each of the 20
on the list. Because fiber takes so long to complete, I am also
creating prints in the form of stamps for each of the 20 birds.

4. What is your favorite artwork that is not your own work?


Untitled by Helen Frankenthaler
Check out her words about it here

I walked through a show of Helen Frankenthaler at the Yale
Museum of Art a few years ago and had an epiphany of sorts.
I began to day dream about how I could use monoprinting to
build layers of color on cloth. Her work was so saturated and
intense it took me for a mental ride. I remember standing in
front of this piece and thinking about the intuitive nature of it.
I am still working through some of those ideas.

5. Do you have set studio hours? How do you arrange your day
as an artist?

If I limit computer tasks to a few hours in the morning, I can
then focus and create artwork, class content and move forward
on pieces that need completion for the rest of the day. I find that
if I focus too much on trying to complete class proposals, send
emails and check in the facebook that I feel cheated and drained.
So limiting time spent on he computer works best. When that work
piles up, I will spend a few days and plug away at it, but really need
to reward myself with creative play afterward.

When I am unfocused and find myself unable to connect with myself
artistically I find that putting my headphones on and listening to a
book on tape will help me tune out on the world around me and will
help me to hone in on a creative task. After about an hour, I find that
I can stop listening through the headphone but remain focused creatively.
It is important to figure out your own focus trick! And use it.

6. What is it that motivates you to keep making art?
(aside from creating art for classes or books)

Making art keeps my mind clean and open. I stress less, I keep my
focus on myself and what I can do to make this world better and
more livable. Everything flows better.

7. What are you working on right now?

A new series I am calling The 20, I spoke about it before. Question #3


City Queen ATC 2.5x3.5" Printed on watercolor paper

8. Any upcoming projects, classes, books etc..?

The next class I will be teaching will be held at Art and Soul in Hampton
Virginia. May 23-24, 2010 Soy Wax with Paint and Inspired Journaling, every-single-day! both classes are near to my heart.
Surface Design and Journaling


9. What is your favorite artwork from your book? Why?

Still Life in Time. This would be my favorite from my book because the
pitcher and bowls use a color hankie I found sodden on my town green
ages ago. I carried this hankie with me for years. One day my cat got it,
play with it and tore it up pretty badly. I was so mad! I stuffed the piece
in a fabric bin and called it a day. When that piece came into being, I
saw that ripped hankie and thought it would make a great china pattern!


GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I have been spending time with Melly's new book, Inspired to Quilt.

I really enjoyed it and have decide to give away one copy.

Leave a comment by Wednesday, May 5th for your chance to WIN!

Check out more of Melanie's Art and Life, here!

Small Miracles Update!

Perhaps you remember this post...

Well, it has been a very busy couple of
weeks for a little red finch and his mate
that decided to nest in the winter wreath
on my front door.

Here is an update!














It's so exciting to watch these tiny little
ones, as I sneak peeks into their cozy
bed, while Mama and Papa are away
foraging for food.

Celebrate the Month of May

I am home from my travels to Chicago, where
I spent several days teaching at the Spring
International Quilt Festival.

I can hardly believe how quickly the time has
passed. Here we are almost at the end of April.

However, I am excited to celebrate this new
month, brimming with wonderful memorable
moments to come, such as May Day, Mother's
Day, and Memorial Day.

In honor of this last breath of Spring, I have
spruced up my little shop with some DIVINE
treasures that are sure to capture your heart!


I am offering two very beautiful lavender sachet
designs that are reminiscent of vintage letters
and envelopes. (The envelope design is shown
above)

Each sachet is filled with the most fragrant buds.
These buds are of the highest quality and come
from Apifera Farm, which is artist owned and
operated by my adorable friend, Katherine Dunn.
Every sachet is hand-stitched and decorate with
various ribbons, vintage lace, and a nature inspired
shipping tag.

I am also extremely pleased to bring back, by popular
demand, copies of both volumes of my little poetry
books. Each petite 4" x 6" book is filled with original
poems and accompanying artwork printed in full
color. Every copy will come exquisitely gift wrapped.

These treasures are available for a very
limited time only - now until May 30th.
Purchase one or all as a PERFECT May Day
gift, Mother's Day present, or perhaps a
wonderful treat for yourself.

OH, Heavenly Day

An Honored Guest

Over seven years ago, I graduated at the ripe
ol' age of 36 with a degree in Art. This
accomplishment took me four years of going
to school part-time along with working a job
as a graphic design intern, 30 hours a week.

I look back on that time with utter amazement,
that I was able to maintain such a rigorous
schedule. That period in my life would
become one of the hardest and most
rewarding experiences.

Pursuing your passion can lead you down a
difficult path, but I, personally, did not regret
one minute of the journey. Creating Art had
secretly always been my dream... my bold decision
to pursue that dream saved me from a life
of "What If". It taught me that I was strong
enough to reach for the stars and make it.

I am extremely honored this week to be a
guest curator for CrescenDoh.com. This
website is the brain child of artist extraordinaire,
Jenny Doh. She has thoughtfully created a place
where artists, like herself, can share our success
stories and give each other hope.

I invite you to visit CrescenDoh.com to read
the rest of my story, along with the other three
guest curator's stories this week.

My sincere wish is that it will inspired others
to not be afraid to seek out the person they
were meant to be.

TODAY'S THE DAY!

I am SO EXCITED!!!

I woke this morning to find my little mama
bird snuggled into her nest.

This can only mean one thing, she must be
laying her eggs!

I crept into the front hall quietly and stood
as still as I could to watch her for a few
moments. Within those 5 or so minutes,
daddy bird arrived and sweetly fed mama
some food.



The photo at the top is a picture of the
proud papa and here is one of mama.

A Small Miracle

Who wouldn't be both amazed and humbled
by Nature when it decides to bestow a small
miracle in your midst.

Several posts ago, I mentioned that I was
witnessing occasional glimpses of shadowy
silhouettes upon the frosted glass of my front
door. I had hoped, so very much, that the pair
of finches that were visiting my winter wreath
were perhaps selecting a place to build a nest.

I did not have to wait long to have my wishes
confirmed.
These expecting parents have been very busy
indeed, over the last week, and I could not be
more thrilled and delighted.

It has been two years now, since my husband
discovered a nest of Robin's eggs in a tree in
our yard, and I was immediate besot with them.
I have been quite careful not to disturb
these bird parents in their endeavors,
even going so far as to meet a delivery
driver at the curb so he would not come
up on the front porch.

And as you can see, there are no eggs
yet, so I am waiting patiently, watching
carefully for the future to unfold.
Such events truly spark my creativity
with a fresh sense of awe and wonder,
and I am excited to create some new
painted and stitched collages inspired
by a small miracle, right at my front
door.

Swept Away...

This lovely artwork by artist, Rhonda Parent
is the perfect visual statement for how I feel,
which is completely swept away, when I look
at the INSPIRING artworks created by my
workshop students.

Each piece is so beautiful and unique!

I invite you to take a look for yourself
at the artistic treasures made in the
Of Nested Visions Workshop, the
Technicolor Journaling Workshop,
and Between The Lines Workshop.